In the domain of art, each creation is unique, and knows little progress thereafter. Arising over time are all sorts of variations of the same themes, sometimes full-bodied, often quite bland. But the force existing at the beginning of the work is rarely maintained. Similarly, when this force is reapplied, the action produced in the artwork becomes automated and mechanized, so much so that the dulled senses fail to respond to the medium. The time is then ripe for a new invention. What we call the technique is inseparable from the art. And so we are wanting, and this is not a trivial matter, to do away with some ideas. Gutenberg, the inventor of movable type, printed by this means a handful of books, which still remain supreme as realisations of the art of book typography. The centuries which have succeeded him were not marked by any other major invention in this field of interest – until photography.

El Lissitzky, Gutenberg Jahrbuch 1926

Imagine a world without photography, one could only imagine. - Berenice Abbott

Photography has all the rights, and all the merits, necessary for us to turn towards it as the art of our time. - Alexander Rodchenko

Photo Credit: Jans Bock-Schroeder

Is photography art?

Anyone still asking that question should attend international art fairs, visit renowned galleries and auction houses, or even private residences of some foremost collectors

Photography’s presence within the art world has surged in recent years. The once distinctive line between photography and other art forms has blurred. Today’s photography art market seems to straddle two distinctive subsets – vintage/iconic pieces and current, contemporary creations.

There is a very real sense in which photography is actually the core of the contemporary art market. All sorts of ideas come directly from or through photography.

“There is a new generation of photographers that are creatively and intellectually pushing the envelope,” says Isabella Icoz, art advisor, nominator to the Prix Pictet and veteran art curator in Istanbul. “When I look at them, I don’t think of [their work] as photography but as art. I think it’s important to not look at labels.”